Bricker DNA Results

The results from the Bricker Families DNA Project now potentially support the existence of at least ten
genetically distinct lines with the name of Bricker or a similar variant such as Brickert and Brucker: that
of Nicholas Bricker of York County, Pennsylvania; Peter Bricker of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; John Philip Bricker of Berks, County, Pennsylvania; Frederick Bricker of Berks County, Pennsylvania; John Bricker of Frederick County, Maryland;
Jacob Bricker of Northampton County, Pennsylvania; Peter Bricker of Berks County, Pennsylvania and
the related Jacob Bricker of Berks County, Pennsylvania; George Bricker of Coshocton County, Ohio;
Henri Brucker or Bricker of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; and William Bricker or Brickert, of Adams
County, Pennsylvania. Click on thw white "Family Tree" icons within the colored boxes below, which show DNA
results for various lines, to see how the participants of a given line who have submitted a pedigree to the Project
are genetically related to one another.

Y-chromosome DNA results from the group of men participating in this Project make clear that
eight of the ten Bricker lines have never shared a common ancestor with
the last names of Bricker, Brücker, Brügger, or any other variation within the past 500 to 600 years, since the practice of using last names was first adopted by
most people in Europe. On the other hand, two of the Bricker lines in America, those established
by Jacob Bricker in Northampton County, Pennsylvania and John Bricker in Frederick County, Maryland,
did in fact share a common ancestor in Europe with the last name of Brücker, Brügger, or
something similar prior to their immigration to America.

In 2005 what was originally the Bricker DNA Project expanded its scope to take in families with similar
surnames who may be genetically related, surnames such as BRUEGGER, BRUCKER, BRUGGER,
BRUECKER, BRIGGER, BRUCKERT, BROOKHART and BRICKERT. Those people having
any of these surnames are cordially invited to consider this DNA Project as theirs as well.

MARKER

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

H

D

A

Y

3

3

3

3

3

3

4

3

4

3

3

3

P

S

9

9

9

9

8

8

2

8

3

8

9

8

L

#

3

0

4

1

5

5

6

8

9

9

2

9

G

a

b

I

II

P

Nicholas Bricker (1732-1803) York Co., PA

BR01

12

22

14

10

13

15

11

15

11

13

11

30

J2

BR02

12

22

14

10

13

15

11

15

11

13

11

30

J2

BR03

12

22

14

10

13

15

11

15

11

13

11

30

J2

BR10

12

22

14

10

13

15

11

15

11

13

11

30

J2

BR15

12

22

14

10

13

15

11

15

11

13

11

30

J2

BR27

12

22

14

10

13

15

11

15

11

13

11

30

J2

BR29

12

22

14

10

13

15

11

15

11

13

11

30

J2

BR09

12

22

14

10

13

16

11

15

11

13

11

30

J2

Peter Bricker / Brügger (1700-1760) Lancaster Co., PA

BR06

13

24

14

10

11

13.2

12

12

13

14

13

31

R1b

BR07

13

24

14

10

11

13.2

12

12

13

14

13

31

R1b

BR19

13

24

14

10

11

13.2

12

12

13

14

13

31

R1b

BR34

13

24

14

10

11

13.2

12

12

13

14

13

31

R1b

BR11

13

24

14

10

11

13.2

12

12

12

14

11

31

R1b

BR35

13

24

14

10

11

13.2

12

12

12

14

11

31

R1b

Frederick Bricker (abt 1755 - 1804) Berks Co., PA

BR17

15

22

16

10

15

16

11

13

11

14

12

31

I1c

BR18

15

22

16

10

15

16

11

13

11

14

12

31

I1c

BR23

15

22

16

10

15

16

11

13

11

14

12

31

I1c

John Bricker (1725-1777) Frederick Co., MD

BR04

13

22

13

9

12

15

11

12

12

14

11

30

E3b

BR21

13

22

13

9

12

15

11

12

12

13

11

29

E3b

BR32

13

22

13

9

12

15

11

12

12

13

11

29

E3b

BR40

13

22

13

9

12

15

11

12

12

13

11

29

E3b

Jacob Bricker (?-1761) Northampton Co., PA

BR22

13

22

13

9

12

15

11

12

12

13

11

30

E3b

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

Peter Bricker (1700-1774) Berks Co., PA

BR12

13

24

14

10

11

14

12

12

13

12

13

28

R1b

BR14

13

24

14

10

11

14

12

12

13

12

13

28

R1b

BR20

13

24

14

10

11

14

12

12

13

12

13

28

R1b

BR26

13

24

14

10

11

14

12

12

13

12

13

28

R1b

Jacob Bricker (abt 1764-1823) Berks Co., PA

BR24

13

24

14

10

11

14

12

12

13

12

13

28

R1b

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

Philip Bricker (abt 1728-?) Berks Co., PA

BR28

13

24

13

11

13

18

11

12

12

13

11

31

E3b

BR30

13

24

13

11

13

18

11

12

12

12

11

30

E3b

Peter Brugger (1817-1903) Innertkirchen, Switz

BR33

13

23

15

10

15

15

11

13

11

14

12

31

I1c

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

George Bricker (1833-?) Coshocton Co., OH

BR25

14

22

15

11

12

14

11

12

11

12

11

29

G2

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

William Brickert (1817 - ?) Adams Co., PA

BR16

15

25

16

10

11

14

12

12

11

14

11

31

R1a

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

Henri Brucker (1848-19 ), Alsace-Lorraine, France

BR05

12

24

15

10

13

18

11

15

12

12

11

27

J2e

George Bricker (1817-?) York Co., PA

BR08

13

25

14

11

11

13

12

12

13

13

14

30

R1b

Mathias Bricker (1729-1803) Dauphin Co., PA

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

Christian Bricker (18th century) Westmoreland Co., PA

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

?

What we've found so far

Of the participants in the DNA Project, eight are on paper as descending from the immigrant NICHOLAS BRICKER (1732-1803),
who arrived in Philadelphia from Europe in 1749 aboard the ship "Isaac", have been shown
through lab testing to share exact matches of their genetic signature or haplotype,
the series of numbers or alleles for the 12 DNA markers tested. See box bordered
in violet.
Now with a 99.9% chance that the seven participants sharing the same haplotype have a
common ancestor, their respective pedigrees are decisively confirmed. If it were possible
to go back and test Nicholas' DNA itself, the probability he would have the very same
haplotype as they do is extremely high. BR09, the eighth participant, has a 1-step mutation
at the 385b marker along his Y-chromosome, a "16" rather than a "15" as the others do.
This will no doubt prove to also be the case for anyone else in his particular branch
of the family tree that were tested. Click on the link "FAMILY TREE". Also, see
"Breaking through a Bricker Brickwall" about how one family
participating in the Bricker DNA Project was finally able to confirm they were indeed
descendents of Nicholas.

A brief note: in order to protect the privacy of all participating in the
Bricker DNA Project, as well as the confidentiality of their DNA results, all
participants are identified on the Project website by assigned codes such as "BR01",
"BR02", AND "BR03" rather than by their own proper names. Those participants sharing
similar DNA results who wish to compare their genealogies on paper are free to contact
one another to share such results and genealogies as long as each one agrees to the
contact.

The
PETER BRICKER (1700-1760) who
settled in Cocalico, Lancaster County, PA arrived in Philadelphia from Europe
in 1732 aboard the ship "Plaisance". The six Project participants from this
Bricker line represent branches begun by four out of Peter's five sons.
Both participants BR11 and BR35 descended from Peter Jr, Peter Sr's eldest son by his first
wife Christina Gylgen. Their branch of the family left Pennsylvania for Waterloo,
Canada in 1801. Their sixth cousins BR06 and BR07 are both descended from Peter
Sr's next eldest son Christian, by his second wife Elizabeth, maiden name unknown. BR19 descends from Peter Sr's fourth son, John, whose descendents first left Lancaster County for nearby Cumberland County in the early 1800s, from which one branch travelled on a generation later to Clinton County, Indiana. BR35, descends from Peter Sr's fifth and youngest son David, and their branch of the family has continued living in Cumberland County for some two hundred years. The DNA test each
of the participants took has thus confirmed with virtual certainly the direction that genealogical research and often family tradition had already been indicating: that all six do indeed descend from Peter Bricker Sr. See the box bordered in
light blue. The surname of this line was originally ZURBRÜGG in Switzerland, then changed to BRÜGGER before finally settling on BRICKER in North America.

Two participants, BR17 and BR18,
have genealogies and now DNA results which indicate that each descends
from a brother, George Bricker and Daniel Bricker respectively, whose
father was identified in May, 2005 as very likely having been
FREDERICK BRICKER of the
Oley Valley in Berks County, Pennsylvania (born in the 1750s-60s?). See
the box bordered in brown.
These two participants have been recently joined by a third, BR23, known
to also have descended from George Bricker, through his son Jeremiah. The
Brickers of the Oley Valley, who seemed to have first settled there in the
1740s, have only now been identified through a combination of DNA testing
and genealogical research as coming from a distinctive Bricker line in its
own right. Those from this family have spread to Cass County, Missouri,
Fulton County, Illinois, Madison County, Indiana, and elsewhere, though
the majority are still unaware of their roots in this line.

DNA results for participant
BR21, whose Bricker ancestors settled in Madison County, Ohio via Allegany County,
Maryland in the early 1800s, confirm genealogical research that shows him to be
descended from immigrant JOHN (and
Annemarie) BRICKER through their son
Jacob. John and Annemarie lived in Frederick County, Maryland in the middle of the
1770s. BR21 is a first cousin, three time removed, of former Ohio governor and
senator, and 1944 candidate for vice president, John W. Bricker, thus proving that
John W. Bricker too descends from John and Annemarie. BR21 is the second person
from this Bricker line to participate in the Bricker DNA Project; the first, BR04,
is a descendent of another son of this couple, John Jr, who settled in Columbiana
County, OH. See the box bordered in blue
green; a comparison of the haplotypes of BR04 and BR21 show that they have
a total mutational distance of only one, differing from one another at just the two
related chromosomal markers, 389-i and 389-ii, which are highlighted in red.
See chart at bottom of the webpage. Click on the icon "Family Tree" to see how these two branches
of this family are genealogically connected. See, too, the relationship of this
entire Bricker line with the line of Jacob Bricker of Northampton County, PA,
discussed below. Finally, evidence exists indicating that the immigrant John
Bricker arrived in America from the town of Flonheim in Germany.

Project participant BR22 is believed
to descend from the immigrant JACOB
BRICKER of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, who lived in Petersbach,
Alsace and likely arrived in Philadelphia by the ship "Sandwich" in 1750. Jacob
was the father of JOHANN ADAM BRICKER,
who settled in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Their descendents spread to Indiana
and Armstrong counties in that state, as well as to Clermont County, Ohio. The
surname of this line may have been BRÜGGER and then BRÜCKER
in Europe. The close similarity of BR22's haplotype with that of both BR21 and BR04,
who are from the John Bricker line of Frederick County, Maryland, indicates that that
line and the Northampton County Brickers of which BR22 is a descendent actually shared
a common ancestor at some point in the past while still in Europe, probably of Swiss
origin. See the chart at the bottom of this webpage. Also compare the box bordered
in silver with the box below it in
blue
green. See also the comparison of the extended 25-marker haplotypes for the two
Bricker lines here, which confirms the close genetic
connection of these two lines.

PETER
BRICKER (1700-1774) settled in Womelsdorf, Heidelberg Township, Berks
County, PA, arriving in Philadelphia from Europe in 1737 aboard the ship "Charming
Nancy." Participants BR12 and BR14 both descend from Peter's grandson Christian
Bricker who settled in Lebanon Co, PA, while BR20 and BR26 descends from Christian's
older brother John Jr., who migrated with the rest of the family out of Berks County
to Franklin Co in the same state. John Jr. later moved on to Somerset County. The
evidence of Peter's last will indicates that he had only one son, John Bricker Sr,
but John had ten sons and two daughters, among the sons being Christian and John.
This line today has members throughout the U.S., including Athens, Mercer, Wayne,
and Crawford counties, Ohio, and Franklin County, Pennsylvania. See the box
bordered in salmon.

None of the following Bricker lines having only one
participant to date in the DNA Project can confirm a genetic signature
specific to that Bricker line and only that line. There must be a DNA match
or near match with at least two participants, as is the case with the lines
above, which have now been established genetically as distinct from other
Bricker lines.

JACOB
BRICKER (abt 1765-1823) of Berks County, Pennsylvania. New DNA Project
participant BR24, who descends from this Jacob Bricker of Oley Township, matches
the haplotypes of the descendents of Peter Bricker of Heidelberg Township in the
same county. See the box bordered in yellow,
and compare it to the box that's bordered in salmon.
Also see the chart at the bottom of this webpage. The common ancestor of these two genetically-related families is yet unknown. Jacob Bricker's living descendents are known
to reside today in both Berks and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania.

PHILIP BRICKER of
Berks County, Pennsylvania. His line only recently established through
genealogical research, John Philip has Bricker descendents living today
in Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Illinois.
The earliest record found for this line is of the marriage of John Philip
to Maria Catherina Jaeger in Tulpehocken Township, Berks County in 1753;
their son Michael migrated to Virginia by 1799 and to Tennessee by 1805.
A branch of Michael's brother Jacob may have migrated to South Carolina
and ended up in Texas. See box bordered in blue.

BR33 is the newest participant in the DNA Project,
a descendent of Swiss immigrant PETER BRUGGER (1817-1903), born in Innertkirchen, Canton Bern, Switzerland, who settled first in New York
state and then moved to Larimar County, Colorado, settling in the mountains that reminded
him of his homeland in Switzerland. The family comes from the "Grund" of Innertkirchen,
south of the Aare River, Amt Obershasle. Peter's father was KASPER BRÜGGER born
1773 in Innerkirchen, died 1852. See the box above bordered in pink.

The oldest known ancestor of new participant BR25 is GEORGE
W. BRICKER (1833-1905) of Coshocton County, OH, not to be confused with
the George Bricker of the same county who was born in 1817, and who also has a descendent,
BR08, participating in the Bricker DNA Project. These two participants have completely
incompatible DNA profiles, indicating absolutely no relationship. The participant who is
a descendent of the George W. Bricker born in 1833 is the first from his Bricker line in
this Project. See the box above bordered in purple.
Because the DNA profile of BR25 is also incompatible with the DNA profiles of all other
Bricker lines represented here to date, future genealogical research on BR25's line will
focus only on families whose DNA profiles are still unknown, examples being the Brickers
of Dauphin County, PA; the Brickerts of Bucks County, PA; and the Brookharts of York
County, PA. All of these families are known to have been in America by the 1700s.

BR16's earliest known ancestor is his great great great grandfather,
WILLIAM BRICKERT (1817-?),
of Adams County, PA. See the box bordered in
olive green. It is
not known yet where this family was in Pennsylvania prior to settling in
Adams County, but research is focusing on York County, Bucks County, and
Montgomery County, PA. Members of this family, some with the spelling of
the surname as BRICKERT and others with BRICKER, have settled
in Allegheny County, PA and Morgan County, IN, in addition to those who
have remained in Adams County.

Another participant, BR05, can trace his direct line to a
HENRI BRUCKER (1848-?)
who arrived in America in 1891 aboard the ship "La Bretagne" from
Alsace-Lorraine, settling in Allegheny County, PA. See the box above
bordered in orange.
The specific location within Alsace-Lorraine that the family emigrated
from is not yet known. It's surname was changed to BRICKER after
arrival in America.

Participant BR08 has traced his line back to a GEORGE
BRICKER (1817-?), likely born in York County, PA, who was living in Coshocton
County, Ohio by the mid-1800s. See the box bordered in charcoal
grey. Both DNA results and recently uncovered genealogical evidence appear to point to
a connection with a McHenry line, with roots in Northern Ireland, that was living in York
County in the early 1800s.

Where Project participants have neither a DNA match at this stage of the Project, or a pedigree
which takes their lines back to the point when they were first established in America, as is the
case now with BR25 and BR16, a match at some point would allow each participant to focus his
future genealogical research on tracing his own actual Bricker line back instead of wasting time
researching whether he might have come from other, unrelated lines. And as others having complete
or nearly complete genealogies join the Project, all not only can compare notes with one another,
but hopefully also give advice to those just starting to track their Bricker roots.

To date, no one has joined the Project from the following Bricker lines:

MATHIAS BRICKER of Dauphin County,
Pennsylvania. Mathias arrived in 1750 aboard the ship "Brotherhood" from Lachen in Germany,
initially settling in Montgomery County, PA. He had subsequently relocated to Derry Township,
Dauphin County by 1769. His descendents today still live in that same county, as well as in
adjacent western Lancaster County and elsewhere. See box bordered in dark red.

CHRISTIAN BRICKER of Westmoreland
County, Pennsylvania. This line was thought to have been connected with that of the Jacob
Bricker of Northampton County, PA and his son Johann Adam Bricker, but a second hard look
seems to show that it may have instead begun with Christian's father JACOB CHRISTIAN BRICKER, said to have come from Prussia about 1718,
arriving at Port Jamestown, VA on the ship "Presley". Christian the son moved to Westmoreland
County about 1767. Descendents of this Bricker line settled in Armstrong, Indiana, Butler,
and Allegheny counties in Pennsylvania among other places. See box bordered in green.

Descendents from these Bricker lines, or any other lines with either the Bricker Bruegger,
Brucker, Brugger, Bruecker, Brigger, or Brickert surnames, are here invited to join with us
in our DNA Project. See the Project homepage for details on what
testing can show about ancestry, who can be tested, how the confidentiality of results is
ensured, and so on.

Genetic Distance

The matrix, below, shows the number of mutations or genetic distance between everyone
participating in the Project to date, whatever their Bricker line. As an example of how
to use it, how genetically related would BR04, the descendent of John Bricker of Maryland,
be to BR08, who's descended from Andrew J. Bricker of Ohio? The answer is, extremely
unrelated. Family Tree DNA says that for those tested at the 12-marker level, if you are
more than two mutations away from someone else, "you are unrelated to this person". Here, there's a "genetic distance" of sixteen mutations between BR04 and BR08. Even BR08 and
a descendent of Peter Bricker of Cocalico, BR06, at a genetic distance of "merely" four
mutations from one another, are not related.